 /*******************************************************************************
  * Copyright (c) 2000, 2006 IBM Corporation and others.
  * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
  * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
  * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
  * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
  *
  * Contributors:
  * IBM Corporation - initial API and implementation
  *******************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.update.core;

 import java.net.URL ;

 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.CoreException;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IAdaptable;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IProgressMonitor;

 /**
  * Feature reference.
  * A reference to a feature.
  * <p>
  * Clients may implement this interface. However, in most cases clients should
  * directly instantiate or subclass the provided implementation of this
  * interface.
  * </p>
  * <p>
  * <b>Note:</b> This class/interface is part of an interim API that is still under development and expected to
  * change significantly before reaching stability. It is being made available at this early stage to solicit feedback
  * from pioneering adopters on the understanding that any code that uses this API will almost certainly be broken
  * (repeatedly) as the API evolves.
  * </p>
  * @see org.eclipse.update.core.FeatureReference
  * @since 2.0
  */
 public interface IFeatureReference extends IAdaptable,IPlatformEnvironment {

     /**
      * Returns the referenced feature URL.
      *
      * @return feature URL
      * @since 2.0
      */
     public URL getURL();

     /**
      * Returns the update site for the referenced feature
      *
      * @return feature site
      * @since 2.0
      */
     public ISite getSite();

     /**
      * Returns the label for the referenced feature
      *
      * @return the label
      * @since 2.1
      */
     public String getName();


     /**
      * Returns the referenced feature.
      * This is a factory method that creates the full feature object.
      *
      * @return the referenced feature
      * @deprecated use getFeature(IProgressMonitor) instead
      * @since 2.0
      */
     public IFeature getFeature() throws CoreException;

     /**
      * Returns the referenced feature.
      * This is a factory method that creates the full feature object.
      *
      * @param monitor the progress monitor
      * @return the referenced feature
      * @since 2.1
      */
     public IFeature getFeature(IProgressMonitor monitor) throws CoreException;


     /**
      * Returns the feature identifier.
      *
      * @return the feature identifier.
      * @exception CoreException
      * @since 2.0
      */
     public VersionedIdentifier getVersionedIdentifier() throws CoreException;

     /**
      * Sets the feature reference URL.
      * This is typically performed as part of the feature reference creation
      * operation. Once set, the url should not be reset.
      *
      * @param url reference URL
      * @since 2.0
      */
     public void setURL(URL url) throws CoreException;

     /**
      * Associates a site with the feature reference.
      * This is typically performed as part of the feature reference creation
      * operation. Once set, the site should not be reset.
      *
      * @param site site for the feature reference
      * @since 2.0
      */
     public void setSite(ISite site);
     
     /**
      * Returns <code>true</code> if this feature is patching another feature,
      * <code>false</code> otherwise
      * @return boolean
      * @since 2.1
      */
     public boolean isPatch();
     
     
 }

